Tag Archives: bowl topping

The Frog Prince

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Pull up a chair and light your pipe – I am about to regale you with the tale of one of the most challenging restorations I have ever undertaken. I hesitate to write “restoration”, simply because the work required on this pipe imposed a burden on that word that it may not have been intended to bear. Perhaps “re-creation” is a better word. This post is a little longer than usual, but worth it. This frog needed much more than a kiss to turn into a prince.This is a rusticated Leonard Payne Classic pipe in a billiard shape, with a matching military-style stem and dental bit. The left side of the shank reads Len Payne [over] Classic. Similarly, the ferrule also reads Payne [over] Classic. However, there are no markings (or no visible markings) on the right side of the shank. I acquired this pipe from the granddaughter of the gentleman who once owned it. This fellow is now deceased, but I am pleased to honour his memory with my work. This was obviously a favourite pipe of his, both because it was so dirty and because the rustication was so worn! It is clearly a great smoker.The pipe in question was made by the late, great Canadian artisan, Leonard Payne. He was born in England, moved to Canada in the 1950s, and died in the Vancouver area within the last few years. Payne was, to put mildly, an idiosyncratic pipe maker. I can do no better than quote Mike Glukler of Briar Blues (found on Pipepedia):

“Leonard Payne was based in B.C. for many years. He came to Canada from England. He had shops in Surrey, B.C. and Kelowna, B.C. Interesting fellow. Gruff as the day is long. When you bought a pipe, it was handed to you in a paper bag. No sock, no box. Most of his pipes carried a ‘carburetor’ system at the shank/stem junction. Another Payne idea was his shanks. Almost all his pipes were two pieces. He’d turn the bowl and shank, then cut off the shank and reattach with glue (not always with the same piece of briar, so many did not match grains). His thinking was that the shank being the weakest link, if cut and glued would never break and thus ‘correcting’ the weakest link.In addition, there was a photograph that Steve found of Payne on Reddit that appears to date from the 1960s. The original poster on Reddit told me that the photo comes from the City of Surrey Archives. I have no idea why it is in French, but here is my translation of the text on the right:

“Pipe makers are not on every street corner in Canada! Leonard Payne, originally from England, didn’t know the challenges he would face and that’s probably what influenced his decision to come and try his luck in Canada. After his arrival in 1957, he and his family settled in Vancouver, where he first found work as a tool maker – and made pipes in his free time. In 1959, he decided to become a full-time pipe maker, and since then he has had department stores in all parts of Canada among his clients. He imports briar blocks from Italy and pipe stems from England.”This pipe was a perfect example of Payne’s work. It had a ‘carburetor’ system at the shank/stem junction and the stummel had been separated in two and reattached with glue (although, in this case, he did reattach the matching piece of briar).This pipe was charming, but it had a number of issues. The stem was dirty, though not too beat up. There were a few small scratches, etc., as well as some minor oxidation to the vulcanite. The ‘carburetor’ system was going to make cleaning all the more challenging, as there was little room around the end of the aluminum tube to remove all the filth.The stummel was a different story. It was dirty, dull, and worn. The pipe had been rusticated once-upon-a-time, but so much hand-rubbing of the wood over the years had eroded it (and a lot of the Len Payne markings).

However, by far the biggest problem was the bowl. It was badly out-of-round, burned on the rim, and – take a close look at the photos – it had clearly been decapitated at some point in the past. Steve and I spoke about it, and we figure that the original pipe probably developed a crack after heavy use. The owner, loving his pipe so much, decided that he would rather modify it than toss it. Presumably, he then took a saw and cut off the damaged wood. Following this, he would have stained the wood with something very dark. All of this is conjecture, of course, but it seems likely, given the current state of the pipe.    What on earth do you do with a hacked-up pipe? Read on…

While I decided to have a “thunk” about it, I tackled the stem. I began by cleaning some of the filth on the outside with some Murphy’s Oil Soap on cotton rounds. This removed some of the surface staining. Then, I started cleaning the inside with isopropyl alcohol and pipe cleaners. This took a while. The inside wasn’t terribly dirty, but the empty space inside the end of the stem was tricky to clean well. Once the stem was good and clean, I placed it in a container of Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover overnight. This liquid does (as the name suggests) remove oxidation, but, more than anything, it helps draw oxidation to the surface of the vulcanite. This allows me to clean the oxidation off in a couple of ways: both by applying a mild abrasive cleaner to the surface, then by sanding the stem.I used SoftScrub with some cotton rounds and, as you can see, lots of revolting colour came off the stem. Thankfully, there were no significant dents, scratches, or bite marks that required a cyanoacrylate glue repair, so I moved on to the next step. For sanding the stem, I use a set of nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) which gradually erase the ravages of time and bring out the stem’s lovely black lustre. For the last five pads, I also lightly coat the stem with Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each scrubbing. At last, I set the finished stem aside. On to the stummel and, as I indicated earlier, there were MANY problems to be solved.

  1. The insides were quite filthy and would need considerable work to clean.
  2. The metal ferrule would not come off the wood. It was absolutely solid.
  3. The metal ferrule also needed to be polished.
  4. The rustication had rubbed away so much that it would need to be redone in some way.
  5. The bowl opening was badly out-of-round.
  6. Burn marks and an uneven surface blighted the rim of the pipe.
  7. The fact that the top of the pipe had been lopped off meant that it just didn’t look In a sense, this was the biggest problem of them all.

On to problem #1. The bowl really needed to be reamed, so I used the KleenReem too to scrape off as much built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as possible. Generally, I prefer to sand the chamber down to bare briar. When restoring, it is important to ensure that there is no damage to the briar under the cake. There are a few situations when I might leave some cake in the bowl, but not today. And, fortunately, there were no hidden flaws to the briar on this pipe.I gave the wood a quick cleaning with Murphy’s Oil Soap. It turned out that I would need to clean it again later.I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with pipe cleaners and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a bit of built-up grime inside this stummel, and it took a good number of pipe cleaners to get it clean. Or – I thought it was clean. I’ll come back to that.    Problem #2 was an interesting one. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if the ferrule was permanently attached to the shank or not. Steve told me that it is supposed to come off and that I’d better get it off because there would be plenty more pipe goo to clean. So, I dug out my trusty heat gun, applied some heat to the join and – voilà! – the grime softened sufficiently for me to unscrew the ferrule.As Steve had hinted, it was a real mess inside the shank, behind the ferrule. Just dreadful – and it took more pipe cleaners and Q-tips than I used for the rest of the stummel just to clean out this area. It had obviously never been cleaned before. I even threw the thing in an alcohol bath! The dirt just kept coming and coming, but, at long last, I finally got it clean. I followed that up by cleaning the insides of the whole stummel with some Castile soap and tube brushes. Finally, I polished the tiny piece of the ‘carburetor’ system by inserting a piece of 0000 steel wool down the shank and grinding it shiny.    Problem #3 was quite straightforward to resolve – Deo gratias. I started by soaking the filthy threads of the screw in my lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. They were dirty and the dirt was very stubborn. Eventually, it did come off and I could proceed. Next, I rubbed the aluminum ferrule with 0000 steel wool. This is the least abrasive grade of steel wool and I wouldn’t use anything harsher than that. I then used the last few MicroMesh pads to make the metal shine.Problem #4 concerned how worn away the rustication had become. I wanted to recreate the pattern that Payne had originally devised on his pipe. I took my Dremel Rotary Tool and used the smaller engraving cutter to achieve the small worm-track. The work was intricate and a bit nerve-wracking, but I was quite pleased with the results. My only problem was that I ended up having to repeat this process later, but I digress…

The solution to problem #5 – the out-of-round chamber opening – came from a familiar source. I took a solid wooden sphere, wrapped a piece of 220-grit sandpaper around it, and sanded the inner side of the chamber. This achieved two things: first, it removed some of the burn marks on the inner edge of the rim; and second (and more importantly), the circular shape and motion of the sphere gradually returned the edge to a perfect circle. This takes time and patience, but it is quite effective. But there was more to come. As it turned out, problem #6 bled right into problem #7. As I mentioned earlier, the surgery that the pipe received earlier in its life just didn’t look right. Something significant needed to be done. As always, Steve made an excellent suggestion to save and beautify this Payne pipe. He proposed modifying the pipe to a prince shape. This made a lot of sense. Changing this into a prince would (1) smooth out the ridiculously uneven rim top; (2) eliminate the burn marks on the top; and (3) allow what remains of the briar to be showcased properly and to greatest effect. I’ve included a sample photo of some prince pipes from Greg Pease’s collection, just to give you an idea of what I was aiming for. I’ll let you be the judge of whether I succeeded or not.So, heart-in-throat, I set about grinding the Payne with my Dremel and a sanding disc. Gently, gradually, cautiously, I removed more wood and began to set the new shape. This was no mean feat for me – the Dremel is a powerful tool, and this process can go pear-shaped very easily. The following series of photos demonstrates the progress as I shaped the bowl. Once the shape was nicely developed, I used some 220-grit sandpaper to smooth and round the crown of the rim. Of course, I had to redo much of the rustication work I did earlier, since my Dremel removed most of it. This went very well. It was only at this point, when I felt comfortable with the work I had done, that I cleaned the outside of the pipe thoroughly with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a toothbrush. By the way, here is a close-up photo of how Payne cut off then rejoined the bowl and shank. It’s unusual – I’ll give him that!The stummel cleaned up quite nicely and I was able to move on to the MicroMesh pads. Again, using all nine (1,500 through 12,000 grit), I sanded, rounded, and further embodied the prince shape.  I then paused and rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the soft and smooth wood. I gently brushed it into the rustication grooves and let the balm sit for fifteen minutes or so. The BARB works so well at bringing out the best in the wood. I brushed it with a horsehair brush and buffed it with a microfibre cloth. Beauty! It is obvious that at this point the pipe needed to be stained. One issue that needed to be addressed right away was how to match the sanded area to the colour of the pre-existing stain. I opted to apply some Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye only to the sanded area. I flamed it with a BIC lighter and let it set. I then removed some excess with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton round. This provided a sufficiently accurate undercoat to the wood and would allow me to apply a separate layer of dye to the whole stummel. I repeated my steps in order to add the second and final layer of Dark Brown to all of the wood. This turned out beautifully – dark and rich, with lovely subtle variations in colour.    I reassembled the pipe to prepare it for polishing on the bench buffer. However, I added a little bit of petroleum jelly to the wooden threads inside the shank. This would provide some much-needed lubrication for the connection with the aluminum ferrule.I went to the bench buffer and applied some White Diamond to the stummel and stem. Then the final polish! The rusticated surface meant that I didn’t use carnauba wax – it gets gummed up in the grooves. Instead, I used Lee Valley Conservator’s Wax which worked like a charm. What a pipe! Goodbye frog, hello prince! This was an amazing restoration/re-creation and I really had fun with it. I think the result is fantastic – it turned a lump that was destined for the firewood pile into a pipe that pays homage to the man who created it originally and the man who smoked it so joyfully.

I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the “Canada” pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the Payne Classic are as follows: length 5½ in. (140 mm); height 1⅛ in. (29 mm); bowl diameter 1⅝ in. (41 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is ⅞ oz. (27 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Breathing Life into a Tired and Worn Comoy’s Tradition Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I know longer remember where or when we purchased this pipe. It is a small pipe with nice grain and a saddle stem. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads COMOY’S [over] TRADITION. The right side is very faintly stamped Made in England. The rest of the stamp was unclear as was the shape number. It had a flat bottom on the shank and heal of the bowl that made it a sitter. We don’t have any photos of the pipe before Jeff cleaned it. But Jeff did his usual cleanup. The bowl was reamed with a PipNet reamer. He cleaned it up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He did the same with the airway in the stem. The rim top and the beveled inner rim edge were damaged and showed burn marks on the front and back of the bowl. The outer edge of the bowl was damaged on the front side. The bowl was also out of round and damaged. The vulcanite saddle stem is clean but has some tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. The stem has a 3 part C on the left side of the saddle. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work on it.  I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of both. The bowl is very clean but you can see the burn damage on the top front and rear of the bowl and on the beveled inner edge. There was some darkening all over the rim top. It really was quite a mess. I took photos of the stem as well to show the tooth dents on the top and underside ahead of the button and on the button surface as well. There was three part C logo on the left side of the saddle. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. The stamping on the right is very faint and I could not capture the Made in England stamp that was faint. There was no shape number on the shank.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe. It is proportionally pleasing and quite an eye catching pipe. I looked on Pipephil’s site for information on the Comoy’s Tradition and found the following information I have included a screen capture (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-comoy.html). It has the three part C which dated it to 1946 and following. The stamping is the same as the one I am working on. I turned to the article on Pipedia about dating Comoy’s pipes but the style of the stamping (https://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Comoy%27s_Dating_Guide#1917_to_the_end_of_the_1930.27s_.28at_least_1938.29). I have include the section in the screen capture below that date this pipe to the 1950s.

Now the Comoy’s stamp can be found in three variants in the 1950s

  1. A simple block-letter style without serifs but with the C larger than the other letters and the apostrophe before the “S”.
  2. A return to the slightly more fancy block letters with serifs and the apostrophe. (It seems that some grades carried different stamps, or at least that the stamping changed in different years for some grades.)
  3. A simple block-letter style without serifs and without the apostrophe and with the “C” the same size as the rest of the letters. This stamp was probably not used very long.
  4. A simple block-letter style without serifs but with the apostrophe before the “S” and with the “C” the same size as the rest of the letters.

Inlaid “C” on the stem

“C” was first inlaid in the side of the mouthpiece around 1919. This was a complex inlay needing three drillings. First, a round white inlay was inserted, then the centre of the white was drilled out, and a smaller round black inlay was inserted. Finally, another drilling was made to remove the open part of the “C,” and an even smaller black inlay was inserted. This inlaid “C,” known as the “three-piece C,” was continued until the Cadogan era in the 1980s. However, the “C” in the 1920s and early 30s is much thinner and more delicate than the one post-WW II.

That article gave me some helpful information regarding the pipe that I was working on. I knew that the stamping and logos identified the pipe as having been made in following WW2 and from what I can see from the above information it is a 1950s era pipe.

I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the rim top, outer edge and the inner beveled edge of the bowl. I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I filled in the deep damage on the outer edge and rim top with clear super glue and briar dust. I used a wooden ball and 220 grit sandpaper to give the rim top and inner edge a bevel and minimize the burn damage to the top and edges. I stained the rim top with an Oak Stain Pen to match the colour around the sides of the bowl. It took several coats but it matched quite well.I polished the briar on the rim top and the rest of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. The briar really took on a rich shine with the polishing. I rubbed the bowl down with some Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to clean, revive and preserve the wood. It really brings the grain alive once again. I let it sit for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth. The grain really pops at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter and was able to lift the tooth marks and chatter significantly. I sanded out those that remained with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. It was starting to look very good.     I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I finished the polishing with some Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. The stem looked very good.   As always I am excited to finish a pipe that I am working on. I put the Comoy’s Tradition Pot back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and hand buffed it to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the grain popping around the bowl and shank. Added to that the polished vulcanite saddle stem was a beautiful touch. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams/1.20 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. I want to keep reminding us of the fact that we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next trustee.

Restoring a Nino Rossi 1886 Shape 138

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another that caught my eye when I was going through my boxes of pipes to be refurbished. It was purchased off eBay from a seller in Spearville, Kansas, USA in March of 2017. So, it is another that has been sitting here for over five years now. I sent a message to Jeff to see if he had some before photos of the pipe to show the condition when he received it. He did and sent them to me via Messenger. The pipe is a unique shape but it was a real mess. It is stamped on the left side of the shank with the signature of Nino Rossi [over] 1886. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number 138 and on the underside near the stem it read ITALY. The stem had the brand logo stamped on the left side as well and though fade it was readable. The finish was filthy with dirt and grime ground into the briar. There was some fading near the ride top of the bowl. The was some tarnish on the mid-shank brass band sandwiched between two white acrylic spacers. The bowl was heavily caked and there was a lava overflow on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. It appeared to me that the bowl edges were damaged but I would not know for sure until the pipe was cleaned up. The stem had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The inside of the stem and shank was also filthy with heavy tars and oils to the point it was almost clogged. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up and I include those now. He took photos of the rim top to show the condition of the pipe and the cake in the bowl. You can see the potential damage on the inner edge. He also took photos of the stem to show the bite marks and chatter on both sides. Jeff captured the grain around the bowl sides and heel in the next photos. It really shines through even the grime. There are worn spots in the finish and numerous fills in the bowl and heel. They blend pretty well and I think after the clean up it will be a beautiful pipe. He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides and stem. He was able to capture them very well. Before I started to work on the pipe I wanted to remind myself of the background and history of the company. I find that when I do that it gives me another level of appreciation for the pipe that I am working on. I remembered that I had worked on a Nino Rossi 1886 pipe before so I turned to the blog I had written on the brand when I did that pipe and reread the history. Here is the link to the blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2022/01/04/a-fun-restore-of-a-nino-rossi-1886-classico-in-shape-992/). While the shape is slightly different it was informative. I quote from the information I found on the blog below.

I turned first to Pipephil’s site to see what I could learn about the brand as generally the site gives a good summary (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-n1.html#ninorossi). I quote the information from the side bar below and a screen capture of the pertinent section on the site. I drew a red box around the pipe in the photo below with the same stamping as the one I am working on.

Brand founded in 1886 by Ferdinando Rossi senior. He established a factory in Barasso, 5 miles away from Varese. The pipes production by the 850 employees reached 50,000 pipes/day in 1936. Ferdinando Rossi junior headed the company from 1946 until close down in 1985.I turned to Pipedia to read the more complete history of the brand and learn what I could about a possible date for this pipe (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Rossi). First, I wanted to understand the 1886 stamp on the shank under the signature stamp. I found that it was the year that the company acquired land and opened Fabbrica di Pipe di Radica Rossi.

Rossi acquired a large area of land in Barasso in the province of Varese and founded the Fabbrica di Pipe di Radica Rossi in 1886. For sure there was no lack of skilled workers and Rossi personally recruited 30 craftsmen of different occupations from the environment to get started. After a few years the enterprise had developed well and entered into export trades. In 1892 e.g., the ledgers registered the first pipes shipped to Brazil.

I quote a summary section of the article below.

From, approximately, Twenties, Rossi pipes were marked with “FRB” (Fratelli Rossi Barasso) or “MFRB” (Manifattura Fratelli Rossi Barasso), into an oval and above “OLD BRIAR” (or similar – sometimes, there was also “MFD. BY ROSSI”, as “Manufactured by Rossi”); on the stem, there was generally the “R” letter in circle. However, “FRB OLD BRIAR” was maintained for the “traditional pipes” (for cheap models – see below), surely, to Sixties.

From, approximately, the fiftieth anniversary (1936), pipes were marked with “Rossi” (in cursive font), with model name just under it; on the stem, there was “ROSSI” (for expensive models like “extra”, which had the best quality; “racine”, which was rusticated by hand; “extra grain”, which was accurately sandblasted; “super”, which had the best briar selection, and a limited production; “fiamma”, which was the best selection of Sardinia and Greece briar, and a very limited production) or “R” in circle (for inexpensive models like “standard”, “grana” and “FRB”).

From, approximately, Seventies, until 1985, Rossi pipes were marked with “ROSSI”, in an oval (sometimes there was also “ITALY” on the shank); on the stem, there was “ROSSI”. In these years, appeared the signature “Nino Rossi” (in cursive font): he was the last heir of the factory.

With that information, I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. There was some darkening on the inner edge of the rim and top that would need to be dealt with. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation as possible. He soaked it in Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it with warm water. The acrylic stem was clean but had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was an N logo on the left side of the stem. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it.  I took photos of the rim top and bowl as well as the stem to give a sense of the condition of both. The rim top had some damage and darkening to the inner edge and rim top on the right front and back side. The bowl was out of round and need some work. The stem cleaned up well and there were tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides and underside of the shank. They are readable as noted above.I took the stem out of the shank and took a photo of the overall look of the pipe.I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening and damage on the inside edge of the bowl and the rim top. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden ball to clean up the bevel on the inner edge and the top of the bowl. I touched it up with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wiped the top and edges down with a damp cloth and the rim top and edges looked much better. I wrapped a piece of dowel with 220 grit sandpaper and sanded the inside walls of the bowl to smooth them out. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled I the deep tooth mark on the top and underside of the stem with black CA glue. Once it cured I used a small file to flatten the repair and shape the button edge. I sanded the repair smooth to blend it into the surface of the stem with the 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them out. I started the polishing of the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. The stem was looking better with the repairs and polishing. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final rub down with Obsidian Oil. I used some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold to touch up the N stamp on the left side of the saddle. I applied it and worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. I buffed it off with a soft towel. The resultant stamp looked very good.This Nino Rossi 1886 Shape 138 ¼ Bent Stack with a briar shank extension and a short saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain on the briar and the briar shank extension that shines through the polished finish is stunning. There is a brass spacer with a white acrylic space on each side between the shank and the extension. It looks great. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Nino Rossi 138 fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 56 grams/1.98 ounces. I will soon be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Reviving a Vauen Luxus

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is a handsome Vauen, which I acquired from a Craigslist pipe lot. Although not an old pipe, it is a handsome one. It’s rather big and hefty, but not heavy, and feels good in the hand. I’m really glad that my customer picked out this pipe, as it has been sitting around unused for far too long. I’m happy that it has found a new home.This pipe is a Vauen Luxus 2013 chunky, bent billiard with a beautiful horn ferrule, It also takes a 9 mm filter. The stem has the traditional Vauen white dot (not unlike Dunhill’s) and, most interestingly, it has a P-lip, very reminiscent of Peterson’s. The ‘2013’ does not refer to the year of manufacture, rather, it refers to the shape number. The markings on the pipe are as follows: on the left side of the shank, it reads Vauen [over] Luxus. The underside of the shank shows the model number 2013, and the top of the stem shows the classic white Vauen dot.I searched on Pipedia for some history of the Vauen brand. Here’s what I found:

In 1848 Karl Ellenberger and his partner Carl August Ziener turned an idea into reality in Nuremberg. In the first German pipe manufacturing company they produced tobacco pipes from selected woods for connoisseurs throughout the world.

The Vereinigte Pfeifenfabriken in Nuremberg (known in short as VPFN) was brought into being in 1901 with the amalgamation with the Gebhard Ott pipe factory founded in 1866, also in Nuremberg. In this way, a business was created under the management of Ernst Eckert, a scion of the founding family Ott, and its products and services were to attend and shape the culture of tobacco and smoking in Europe and overseas for a long time – for 150 years now.

In the 1920s, VAUEN had taken out a trademark on a white dot on the mouthpiece for Germany and Austria, at the same time that Dunhill had done the same for the international market. The companies ended up in court with the result that Dunhill may use the white dot internationally, whereas VAUEN may use it only in Germany and Austria and has to use a differently-coloured dot for all other markets. They have used light blue and grey dots internationally since then. The white or coloured dot denotes the higher quality pipes of VAUEN; the lower-end pipes are only marked by the VAUEN imprint on the stem.

In the search for a term which would be easy for all pipe friends to remember and not confuse with anything else, Ernst Eckert’s son, Adolf Eckert coined a new name for the business in 1909.

VAUEN, consisting of the initial letters V (pronounced VAU) from Vereinigte Pfeifenfabriken and the N (pronounced EN) of Nuremberg. A brand name for the future had been created.

After 1945 Ernst Eckert, son of Adolf Eckert, succeeded in overcoming the destructive effects of the war with an unshakeable pioneering spirit. VAUEN grew to become a business with a worldwide reputation once more.

Alexander Eckert, now the fifth generation of pipemakers, has been at the head of the oldest German pipe-manufacturing company since 1982. The company, which has been in the hands of the founder’s family since it was established, is expanding again in importance as a result of increased international commitment.

Over at Pipephil.eu, they note that “Some of the pipes in Vauen’s Dr. Perl line (Germany) are equipped with a conventional P-lip stem.” In this context, the word ‘conventional’ is referring to the same P-lip invented by Peterson in 1898.

On to the pipe: given that it wasn’t very old, the pipe was in pretty good shape, but as usual, there were a couple of issues. The rim on the stummel was blackened and a bit burnt – that would need to be addressed. The insides were fairly dirty and would need some work to clean out. There were also some small fills in the wood, and they had ever-so-slightly expanded so that you could feel them when rubbing your finger over the surface. My customer didn’t want the fills dug out and replaced, so I would need to stain the fills instead. Mercifully, the beautiful horn was in good shape and wouldn’t need anything other than a polish. The stem needed some work. It was definitely dirty inside and the cavity that holds the filter would need a thorough cleaning. The stem also had some calcification and tooth marks/dents that would need addressing. In addition, the button would need to be reshaped. The stem was first on my list. I wiped down the outside of the stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. I also took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame in order to lift the bite marks and dents. Unfortunately, this didn’t really work, but I have ways of sorting this problem out.

Then, I cleaned out the inside with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. It was pretty dirty and required quite a few pipe cleaners. Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover.The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed with SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation on the stem.The bite marks on and around the button had to be dealt with, so I whipped out my black cyanoacrylate adhesive to fill those in and let them fully cure. 

I then sanded the adhesive down with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. Next, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. On to the stummel, and the usual cleaning procedures were in order. The bowl really needed reaming so I used the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper on a dowel to eliminate as much as possible. I took the chamber down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws. Fortunately, there were none. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a bit of filth inside these stummels and it took a lot of cotton to get them clean. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes.I used a toothbrush and some Murphy’s Oil Soap to scrub the outside of the stummel and then the lava on the rim of the pipe.The burn marks remained, so in order to remove the remaining burns and nicks on the rim, I “topped” the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the damage, without altering the look of the pipe.A de-ghosting session also seemed in order, so I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was nice and clean after this. Just before sanding, I covered the horn with painter’s tape to prevent any damage to it. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the stummel to make it lovely and smooth. After that, a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the wood.In order to minimize the appearance of the fills, I opted to apply some stain to the wood. First, however, I used some furniture pens on the fills and the newly sanded rim to darken them a bit. I began by applying a layer of Fiebing’s Light Brown Leather Dye to the pipe. After applying the dye, flaming it with a BIC, and letting it set for a few hours, I wiped the stummel down with isopropyl alcohol to remove much of the dye. Then it was time for the second round of staining, following the same steps as before. Finally, it was off for a trip to the bench polisher. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what it needed. The lovely shine made the wood look absolutely beautiful. This Vauen Luxus looks fantastic and arise ready to be enjoyed again by the next owner. I know that the new owner will enjoy smoking it for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6 in. (150 mm); height 2.3 in. (59 mm); bowl diameter 1.4 in. (35 mm); chamber diameter 0.8 in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2.5 oz. (72 g). Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

New Life for a Hard Smoked Older Bewlay Popular 127 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table was dropped off by a local pipe shop that I do repair and restoration work for. It is an older pipe that the shop wanted me to do a full restoration on and properly fit the stem. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Bewlay in script [over] Popular. On the right side it was stamped London Made and lower on the shank it read 127 (shape number) [over] 0. The shank had an oxidized silver band (stamped on the underside Sterling Silver) on the shank and under examination with a bright light it was a repair for a cracked shank. The poor pipe was another one that had obviously been someone’s favourite and must have been a grand smoker. The finish appears to have some nice grain around the bowl and shank that even stands out with the grime on the finish. The bowl is heavily caked with a thick lava overflow on the rim top. The inner edge looked good under the grime but a clean up would tell the full story. The stem is quite oxidized, calcified and had a lot of tooth chatter on the top and underside near the button. The diameter of the stem is larger than the diameter of the shank. I would need to reduce it for a proper fit. The pipe showed a lot of promise but it was a mess. I took photos of it before starting my work on it. I took photos of the rim top and bowl as well as the stem surfaces to show the condition of the well smoked pipe. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the heavy lava on the inner edge and rim. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I tried to capture the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is faint in spots but is readable as noted above. You can also see the diameter variation in the stem and the shank in the photos. I am pretty certain that somewhere along the way the original stem broke and cracked the shank. The pipe was banded and a new stem put on the pipe. Whoever did the work did not adjust the fit of the stem.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. Look at the grain on the left side of the bowl.I have worked quite a few Bewlay pipes over the years but wanted a reminder of the background of the brand. I turned first to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b4.html).  I got a quick summary there. I have included a screen capture below. The second pipe in the photograph below is stamped similarly to the one I have. It is also a Bewlay Popular. The shape number is different but that stamp also looks like this one. I have also included the information that was in the sidebar below photos below.Brand distributed by Bewlay & Co (chain of pipe stores) until the 50s, taken over by Imperial Tobacco & Co.

I turned to Pipedia next and include a screen shot of a photo there and a short history of the brand and who made pipes for them (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bewlay).The English brand of Bewlay & Co. Ltd. (formerly Salmon & Gluckstein Ltd.), was in business from the early 20th century until the 1950s. The brand ended up being sold and taken over by Imperial Tobacco Co.. The shop chain closed in the 1980s but there seems to be one shop still in business on Carr Lane in the city of Hull.

Bewlay pipes were made by prestigious firms. Notably Barling, Charatan, Loewe & Co., Sasieni, Huybrecht, and Orlik. So understandably, the English considered a Bewlay pipe a quality pipe.

The information highlighted in red above is very interesting. Key English pipe making firms made pipes for Bewlay. I did a bit of searching for the shape number 127 under those company’s but did not find anything conclusive.

I started my work on the pipe by doing the cleanup work. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I took the cake back to bare briar and sanded the walls with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I checked the walls of the bowl for damage. It looked very good. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the bowl and rim and was able to remove much of the lava and dirt. The inner edge of the bowl looked good and the rim top had some darkening but otherwise was in good shape. I cleaned out the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out clean. I cleaned out the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the rim top and remove the darkening in and damage. I went over the inner edge of the rim to smooth out any roughness. Once I was finished I liked the way it looked.I decided to deghost the bowl and stuffed with cotton bolls and twisted a paper towel into the shank end. I used an ear syringe to fill the bowl with 99% isopropyl alcohol to wick out the oils in the bowl and shank walls. I let it sit for 5 hours and worked on the stem and took my wife to lunch. When we came back the cotton had turned amber coloured. I pulled it out and cleaned out the shank once more. The pipe smelled significantly better.I polished the Sterling Silver band with some silver polish to remove the tarnish and protect it from further tarnish. With it polished the Sterling Silver stamp is visible and readable on the underside.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I worked over the inner and outer edge of the rim as well. After each pad I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It really took on a shine by the last three sanding pads.  I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips where it works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used 220 grit sandpaper to reduce the diameter of the stem to match that of the shank. It took a lot of sanding to get there. I also sanded the oxidation, calcification and chatter at the same time. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. It is starting to look very good. (The first two photos show the size of the stem diameter in comparison with the shank.) I continued to polish the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to cure. I am excited to finish this Bewlay Popular 127 Billiard. Who made this pipe for Bewlay? My guess, and it is just that, is that the pipe was made by Loewe & Co. Whoever made it the pipe is a beauty. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful straight grain all around it and the birdseye on the rim top. The polished grain on the pipe looks great with the black vulcanite stem. This smooth Bewlay Popular Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 35 grams/1.23 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. Once I finish the second pipe the pipe shop brought for repair I will be giving them a call for pickup. I hope that the owner will get great enjoyment from the pipes. Remember we are the next in a long line of pipe men and women who will carry on the trust of our pipes until we pass them on to the next trustee. Thanks for your time reading this blog.

New Life for a Tired Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 314

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Blog by Steve Laug

We picked this older Peterson’s System Standard purchased from a seller on 11/17/21 in San Marcos, Texas, USA. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] System [over] Standard. On the right side it is stamped and reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) with the shape number 314 underneath. The pipe was another tired old workhorse with lots of grime ground into the finish and a thick cake in the bowl. There was a heavy lava over flow on the rim top and some burn damage on the left front and side of the top and edges. The nickel ferrule was tired by undamaged. The sump and mortise were black with tars and oils. The stem was lightly oxidized and a lot of heavy calcification build up on the P-lip button and underside. There were some tooth marks and chatter on both sides just ahead of the button. Jeff took these photos before he did his clean up work to give an idea of the condition of the pipe. Jeff captured the thick cake in the bowl and the lava overflow onto the rim top in his photo below. There really was no way of knowing what the edges looked like under the thick cake and lava. You can also see the lava flowing down the sides of the bowl in the photos. The burn marks on the left side are also visible in the photo. The stem surface appears to have a lot of tooth chatter and marks but perhaps the calcification and grime on the bowl protected it a bit. There is also some oxidation. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the interesting grain patterns in the briar. It was quite beautiful. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and on the ferrule and stem. It is readable but faint in places. The stamping on the nickel ferrule is very clear and readable. I remembered that Paresh had restored a Peterson’s System Standard (his was a 314) earlier this year and as usual had done good work on the research. I turned to his blog and read through his work on the pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/07/24/helping-a-fellow-piper-with-his-dream-pipea-petersons-system-pipe/). I quote below from the section on his blog regarding the dating of the pipe.

While dating a Peterson’s pipe, I always fall back to my under mentioned favorite site; http://thepetersonpipeproject.blogspot.com/2007/07/dating-peterons-pipes.html

I quote from the above site.

Stamping of Bowl:

During the years of Kapp and Peterson’s business operations, the country of Ireland has undergone several name changes and K&P’s stamping on their pipes reflects these changes. Knowing these changes, a Peterson pipe can be roughly dated and placed in “eras.”

  • The Republic Era is from 1949 until the present. The Republic of Ireland was formed on 17 April 1949. From 1949 to present the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation as possible. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. (You can see the burn damage on the left edge mid bowl.) I took photos of the rim top and bowl as well as the stem to give a sense of the condition of both. The rim top had some scratching on the top and damage to the outer edge and rim top on the side. The stem cleaned up well and the tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button are light and should clean up easily.I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. The are clear and readable as noted above. There is some faintness on parts of the stamping but it is still readable.I took the stem out of the shank and took a photo of the overall look of the pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the outer left edge of the bowl and the rim top.  I lightly topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. I wiped the top and edges down with a damp cloth and the rim top damage and burn marks on the outer edges were gone.I polished the top with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper to prepare it for staining. I stained the rim top and edges with a Walnut stain pen. I let it dry and repeated it until the stain matched.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I sanded the tooth marks and chatter smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to begin blending them into the stem surface. I started the polishing with some 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 314 Bent Billiard with a vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain that shines through the polished finish is stunning. As the pipe is smoked the patina should darken and look even better. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s System Standard 314 fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 41 grams/1.41 ounces. I will soon be adding it to the rebornpipe store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

New Life for a Worn and Tired Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 303

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Blog by Steve Laug

We picked this older Peterson’s System Standard on a Facebook auction on 02/02/22 from Cottage Grove, Minnesota, USA. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] System [over] Standard. On the right side it is stamped and reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) with the shape number 303 underneath. The pipe was a tired old workhorse with lots of grime ground into the finish and a thick cake in the bowl. There was a heavy lava over flow on the rim top and some serious burn damage on the right front of the top and edges from repeated burning with a flame lighter. The nickel ferrule was tired but undamaged and stamped K&P [over] Peterson. The sump and mortise were black with tars and oils. The stem was a mess with oxidation and a lot of heavy calcification build up on the P-lip button and underside. There were some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides just ahead of the button. Jeff took these photos before he did his clean up work to give an idea of the condition of the pipe. Jeff captured the thick cake in the bowl and the heavy lava overflow onto the rim top in his photos. It looks like there is some damage to the inner edge on the right front of the bowl. There really was no way of knowing for sure what the edges looked like under the thick cake. You can also see the lava flowing down the sides of the bowl in the photos. The stem surface appears to have a lot of tooth chatter and marks but perhaps the calcification and grime on the bowl protected it a bit. There is also some oxidation.He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the interesting grain patterns in the briar. It was quite beautiful. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and on the ferrule and stem. It is readable but faint in places. I remembered that Paresh had restored a Peterson’s System Standard (his was a 314) earlier this year and as usual had done good work on the research. I turned to his blog and read through his work on the pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/07/24/helping-a-fellow-piper-with-his-dream-pipea-petersons-system-pipe/). I quote below from the section on his blog regarding the dating of the pipe.

While dating a Peterson’s pipe, I always fall back to my under mentioned favorite site; http://thepetersonpipeproject.blogspot.com/2007/07/dating-peterons-pipes.html

I quote from the above site.

Stamping of Bowl:

During the years of Kapp and Peterson’s business operations, the country of Ireland has undergone several name changes and K&P’s stamping on their pipes reflects these changes. Knowing these changes, a Peterson pipe can be roughly dated and placed in “eras.”

  • The Republic Era is from 1949 until the present. The Republic of Ireland was formed on 17 April 1949. From 1949 to present the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrubb to remove as much of the oxidation as possible. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. (You can see the burn damage on the right top edge of the bowl.) I took photos of the rim top and bowl as well as the stem to give a sense of the condition of both. The rim top had some scratching on the top and damage to the inner edge and rim top on the right front as I had guessed when I saw the photos before the cleanup. The stem cleaned up well and the tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button are light and should clean up easily.I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. The are clear and readable as noted above. There is some faintness on parts of the stamping but it is still readable.I took the stem out of the shank and took a photo of the overall look of the pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the inside edge of the bowl and the rim top.  I topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. I then used a wooden ball and 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel to remove the burn damage on the right front. I wiped the top and edges down with a damp cloth and the rim top damage and burn marks on the outer edges were gone. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. I did not need to restain the rim top and edge because with polishing the match is very good. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I sanded the repairs smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to begin blending them into the stem surface. I started the polishing with some 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I touched up the “P” logo on the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the tails on the “P” with a tooth pick and scraped off the excess with my fingernail. I used a worn piece of 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh to polish off the excess, then buffed it with a soft cloth. This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 303 Bent Apple with a vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain that shines through the polished finish is stunning. As the pipe is smoked the patina should darken and look even better. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s System Standard 303 Apple fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 49 grams/1.73 ounces. I will soon be adding it to the rebornpipe store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring and Restemming a Made in Ireland Shamrock 106 Prince

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe was a mess and one that obviously had been “ridden hard and put away wet”. The finish and condition was abysmal. It was definitely a stranger to any cleaning! This one is a smooth Prince that has a rich coloured finish around the bowl sides and shank under the grit and grime of years. This pipe was purchased from an antique mall on 08/27/21 in Bozeman, Montana, USA. The finish is almost bland looking it is so dirty it was hard to know what to expect once it was cleaned. It was stamped on the  left side of the shank and read SHAMROCK. It was stamped to the right of the shank and reads MADE IN IRELAND (in a circle) with the shape number 106 lower and next to the bowl. It was filthy when Jeff brought it to the table. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. There were nicks in the outer edge all the way around. The replacement stem was chewed and damaged on the top and underside on and near the button. It did not appear to be vulcanite. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked so it is hard to know the condition of the edges under the lava overflow. The stem was a replacement and had been heavily gnawed. The way the bit marks are on the surface of the stem makes me think that it is not vulcanite. The pipe is a real mess and I would probably have to restem the bowl. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. You can see the sandpits and nicks in the briar in the photos below. Even so, it is a nice looking pipe. He took a photo of the left side of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is faint but readable in the photo below and is as noted above. He did not take a photo of the circular stamp Made In Ireland and the shape number on the right side of the shank. I will try to capture that later in the blog.I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Shamrock Pipe. On page 312 it had the following information.

Shamrock (c1941-2009) Originally stamped SHAMROCK with no brand name, an inexpensive line first described in George Yale (New York) mail order booklet in 1941, imported by Rogers Import. The line was actively promoted beginning in ’45, aggressively promoted in US by Rogers from early ‘50s when they registered the Shamrock logo with US Patent Office, claiming propriety since ’38. Over the years offered with P-lip or fishtail mouthpiece, with or without nickel band, with or without Shamrock logo on the band, with or without S stamped in white or later in gold on mouthpiece. Appearing in 2008 as unstained smooth and rustic, fishtail mouthpiece with gold impressed P on the stem. COMS of MADE IN over IRELAND (C1945-1965), MADE IN IRELAND forming a circle (c1945-1965), “A PETERSON’S PRODUCT” over MADE IN IRELAND (c1945-1965), MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over OF IRELAND9c1948-1998). Model is always difficult or impossible to date.

Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on is stamped with the stamp noted in red above. Made in Ireland in a circle which narrows the date to between approximately 1945-1965. It is just stamped SHAMROCK with no brand name and no stamping on the stem.

I was utterly surprised when I took this pipe out of the box and compared it to the before photos. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the heavy cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. When I examined the stem I knew it would need to be replaced. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. The cleaned up rim top revealed very damaged inner and outer edges and the top. There were nicks in the surface of the rim and the edges. I took some close up photos of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up and the damage to the edges around the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near and on the button itself. The stem would be replaced. You can see the deep tooth marks and damage to the button edges on both sides. The diameter of the stem is smaller than that of the shank as can be seen in the photos.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is faint but still readable. It reads as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look.I removed the stem from the shank and went through my stems to find one that matched the length and shape of the previous stem. I was pleased to see that it was slightly larger in diameter than the previous one. The tenon was almost the same size as the other one. It was bent more than the previous one but once straightened out it was only 1/8 of an inch shorter. I thought it would look very good.I used a small folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reduce the tenon enough that it would fit the mortise on the bowl. It did not take too much work and it fit perfectly. The diameter of the stem was slightly larger than the shank and would need some work to fit it properly. I took photos of the pipe with its new stem. I needed to reduce the diameter of the stem and also straighten it a bit to fit correctly. I used a flat file to take off as much of the excess as I could without damaging the briar ahead of it.I cleaned up the fit of the stem to the shank with folded 220 grit sandpaper. I worked over the flow of the stem into the shank to make the transition smooth. It was looking very good. I also heated the stem with the flame of a lighter to soften the vulcanite and straighten it. I repaired the damaged spots on the rim top with briar dust and clear superglue. Once it cured I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inside edge of the bowl and smooth out the damage. I gave it a slight bevel to minimize the damage. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I restained the rim top with a Walnut and a Maple stain pen to match it to the surrounding bowl colour. It looked pretty good. It will blend well once the pipe is polished and buffed. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to finish this Older Made in Ireland Shamrock 106 Prince. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it, looks great with the new black vulcanite stem. This smooth Classic Shamrock 106 Prince is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 36 grams/1.27 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time and as Paresh says each time – Stay Safe.

Restoring a Made in Ireland Shamrock +69 Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe was a mess and one that obviously had been “ridden hard and put away wet”. The finish and condition was abysmal. It was definitely a stranger to any cleaning! This one is a smooth Bent Billiard that has a rich coloured finish and great grain around the bowl sides and shank under the grit and grime of years. This pipe was purchased on 06/05/21 from a fellow in Brazil, Indiana, USA. The finish is almost bland looking it is so dirty it was hard to know what to expect once it was cleaned. It was stamped on the  left side of the shank and read SHAMROCK. It was stamped to the right of the shank and reads MADE IN IRELAND (in a circle) with the shape number +69 next to the bowl. It was filthy when Jeff brought it to the table. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. There were nicks in the outer edge all the way around. There were burn marks on the outer edge on the right and left front of the bowl. The stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked so it is hard to know the condition of the edges under the lava overflow. The burn marks are also visible on the outer edge of the bowl. The stem is oxidized, calcified and grimy. It has some tooth marks on the top and underside near and on the surface of the button itself. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. You can see the sandpits and nicks in the briar in the photos below. Even so, it is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Shamrock Pipe. On page 312 it had the following information.

Shamrock (c1941-2009) Originally stamped SHAMROCK with no brand name, an inexpensive line first described in George Yale (New York) mail order booklet in 1941, imported by Rogers Import. The line was actively promoted beginning in ’45, aggressively promoted in US by Rogers from early ‘50s when they registered the Shamrock logo with US Patent Office, claiming propriety since ’38. Over the years offered with P-lip or fishtail mouthpiece, with or without nickel band, with or without shamrock logo on the band, with or without S stamped in white or later in gold on mouthpiece. Appearing in 2008 as unstained smooth and rustic, fishtail mouthpiece with gold impressed P on the stem. COMS of MADE IN over IRELAND (C1945-1965), MADE IN IRELAND forming a circle (c1945-1965), “A PETERSON’S PRODUCT” over MADE IN IRELAND (c1945-1965), MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over OF IRELAND9c1948-1998). Model is always difficult or impossible to date.

Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on is stamped with the stamp noted in red above. Made in Ireland in a circle which narrows the date to between approximately 1945-1965. It is just stamped SHAMROCK with no brand name and no stamping on the stem.

On page 302 there was a listing on the nickel mounted markings such as those used on the band on the shank of this pipe. I quote:

Nickel-Mount Markings. Often called faux hallmarks or faux marks by Peterson collectors, this set of three little images of a shamrock, an Irish wolfhound and a round tower appear within rectangular shapes as decorations on nickel mountings. Very early nickel mounts (1891-c. 1920) had no such decorations, only the same stamps used on sterling but without the hallmarks. As a stamp, the set of decorations began to appear at the beginning of the Irish Free State era, sometimes alone but often under K&P and over block lettered PETERSON over DUBLIN, although the  three emblems appeared on K&P’s Irish Carving Shamrocks pipes since 1896. The stamp was used until about 1963, when hand soldered nickel bands and ferrules were replaced by pressed ferrules and premade bands…The shamrock is the emblem of Ireland; the Irish wolfhound has long been used for both hunting and protection, and is an emblem of strength; the round tower a symbol of Ireland’s early religious power. These decorations were stamped at the factory on non-sterling mounts only, and the assay office has nothing to do with them…

I was utterly surprised when I took this pipe out of the box and compared it to the before photos. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the heavy cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. The cleaned up rim top revealed very damaged inner and outer edges and the top. It was both burned and nicked from being knocked out on a hard surface. I took some close up photos of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up and the damage to the edges around the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near and on the button itself.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It reads as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I started my work on this pipe by topping the bowl and reworking the damage to the inner edge. I topped the bowl on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. Once I had it smooth I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel to accommodate the burned areas and blend them into the surrounding briar. There was a large flaw in the briar near the rim top on the right side of the bowl. I filled it in with clear super glue and briar dust. Once the repair cured I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surrounding briar.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I restained the rim top with a Walnut stain pen to match it to the surrounding bowl colour. It looked pretty good. I also touched up the repaired flaw on the right side of the bowl toward the top. They will both blend well once the pipe is polished and buffed.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to finish this Nickel Banded Older Made in Ireland Shamrock 69+ Bent Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. The polished nickel band is losing some of the plating but it still looks great with the black vulcanite stem. This smooth Classic Shamrock 69+ Bent Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 59 grams/2.08  oz. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time and as Paresh says each time – Stay Safe.

Restoring and Restemming a Republic Era Peterson’s Mark Twain Bent

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I often purchase pipe bowl/stummels of brands that we like and want to restore. These have included a lot of different bowls. If you have followed us for long you know that some of these have included Peterson’s, Dunhill’s, and a wide range of Danish and English pipes. Awhile ago Jeff and I were sorting through the bowls in our collection and pulled out eight Peterson’s bowls that were dirty and stemless. A friend referred us to a contact named Silas Walls, of Walls Pipe Repair in Wallace, Idaho, USA as he seems to have a good supply of original Peterson’s stems. Our friend has had him fit stems for some of his Petes and was very happy with the work. We made contact with him and sent him eight bowls for restemming.

This fourth of them that we cleaned up before mailing them out was a bowl that we purchased on 09/04/2020 from Gonzales, Louisiana, USA. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] Mark Twain. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines). It has a tarnished silver ferrule on the shank that is stamped Peterson’s [over] Dublin. Further down the ferrule it is stamped Sterling [over] Silver. Below that are three silver hallmarks – a Hibernia symbol, a harp, and the letter P. This gives the information that it is Irish made, the harp is sign of the quality of silver and the P is the date code. (I will explore that  more below). The bowl was dirty with lava on the rim top, darkening on the edge and a moderate cake in the bowl. The finish had a lot of grime ground into the surface of the finish but some nice grain peeked through. The silver ferrule was heavily oxidized. Jeff took photos of the bowl before he did his cleanup work in preparation for sending them to Walls Pipe Repair for their new stem. The photos of the thick cake in the bowl and the lava build up and nicks/scratches in the surface and edges of the rim top. It showed a lot of promise.Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. There is also some great grain around the bowl and shank. As is my habit I turned to Pipephil (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-peterson-ser.html) to get a quick overview of the Mark Twain pipe.When I clicked on the photo of the second pipe above it took me to a photo of the hallmarks that looked identical to the ones on the pipe I am working on. It made me question the date mark and dig further. The note below the photo said, “Peterson Mark Twain (not from the two numbered editions). That photo has a red arrow pointing to the P date stamp. Now to dig a little deeper.I turned to Pipedia and there was nothing specific about that stamping. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned then to the definitive pipe book, The Peterson Pipe by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to find more information on the pipe and the stamping on it. I turned first to the short entries and on page 308 found the following information.

Mark Twain (1981-) System pipe design copied from a photograph of Samuel L. Clemens’s pipe held at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. Arguably Peterson’s most famous and widely known commemorative, it was first introduced as a limited edition 400 numbered pipes in 1981 and offered in smooth and rusticated finishes to this day. Based on shape 14 from 1906 catalog…

There was also a note to turn to another chapter for further information. There is a section in the book on page 174-176 on the Mark Twain variations. There on page 176 in a paragraph entitled, “The Mark Twain System” I found some helpful information which I quote below.

The Mark Twain System. Usually known as the De Luxe, 2400 unnumbered pipes were originally released in 1981 with the hallmark P, and available in smooth as well as rusticated finishes. It is stamped PETERSON’S in script over Mark Twain on the obverse of the shank. The front side of the mouthpiece is stamped with a white P. The pipe retailed for $75 in a red oversized gift box and sometimes included a reproduction of the John Adams etching. De Luxe Quality models were released several times over the years, with later documented examples bearing hallmarks from 1982, 1984-1987, `990-1991, 1994 and 1997.

This section was extremely helpful in that it described the pipe I was working on to a T. So I knew that the pipe was a Mark Twain System known as the De Luxe. It was one of 2400 pipes that were released in 1981 with the hallmark on the silver ferrule – exactly like the one I was working on. I had no need to go further with the hallmarks in terms of dating the pipe.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. It looked much better. The silver ferrule had a tarnish that I would need to deal with. When the pipes came back to Jeff with their new stems they looked great. When the pipe arrived here this week I took photos of it with its stem so you can see what I see. It is a great looking pipe and the replacement stem works well. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top looked quite good but there was some damage and darkening around the inner edge. It should clean up really well. I also took close up photos of the new stem to show how well it is made! Thanks to Walls Pipe Repair!! I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. The new stem looked really good with the bowl.Since the stem was in perfect condition and would not need work I set it aside and turned to work on the bowl. I decided to address the damage to the inner edge of the bowl and the rim top first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel to minimize the darkening and damage and blend it into the surrounding briar.I polished the silver ferrule with a jeweler’s cloth to remove the tarnish and slow down the tarnishing process. I steamed out the dents and road rash on the left side of the bowl and on the heel with a flat butter knife heated on my gas stove top and a wet cloth. Once finished they were gone and the pipe looked very good.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad.  The polishing of the rim top and inner edge brought the rim top colour to match the rest of the bowl. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. Since the stem was new condition the pipe was basically finished. I am excited to put the final touches on this newly restemmed Made in the Republic of Ireland Peterson’s Mark Twain System Pipe. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Peterson’s Mark Twain System is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 66 grams/2.33 ounces. I will be holding on to this one while I decide if I am going to sell it or smoke it. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.